Los Angeles: Little Tokyo and Cafe Dulce

Little Tokyo, Los Angeles

What I really like about LA are all the different ethnic neighborhoods. Some might say it’s just a case of integration gone wrong with people just sticking to themselves, but I love this cultural mosaic and the opportunities that come with it, especially food-wise.

One of the areas, which I really like, is Little Tokyo. Even though the borders defining the area have changed with time, Little Tokyo has been little Tokyo for more than 100 years, except for a break during the years following World War II, when the Japanese Americans were incarcerated.

The heart of Little Tokyo is the Japanese Village Plaza, which is like an outdoor mall with restaurants, shops and beauty salons. There’s even a Japanese supermarket selling all sorts of Japanese foodstuffs and of course a Hello Kitty store.

While there are lots of nice Japanese restaurants in Little Tokyo, my foodie mission yesterday wasn’t sushi or ramen, but a doughnut from Cafe Dulce.

I was advised to try this place by an Instagram friend, and I was happy, I went. I had a donut with strawberry and cream and it was amazing. How will I ever be able to go back to Krispy Kreme after this?

The bacon donuts also caught my attention, but even though I like both bacon and donuts, I’m not really sure what to think of that combo. Maybe some other time.

A lot of big cities have a few blocks with Japanese stores and restaurants, but I don’t recall seeing any official Little Tokyos (or will it be J-towns?) anywhere else in the world.


Cafe Dulce, 134 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles

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Los Angeles is a city you don’t quite figure out all at once. It unfolds slowly, neighborhood by neighborhood, mile by mile. Vast and sun washed, cinematic and oddly intimate, it’s a place of constant contrast. Morning hikes in the canyons. Long lunches that stretch into late afternoon. Evenings that end by the ocean with salt in your hair and traffic humming somewhere in the distance. What I love most about LA is that it feels less like a single city and more like a collection of distinct worlds stitched together by freeways and palm trees. A strip mall might hide one of the best meals you’ll have all year. A quiet residential street can lead to a view that stops you in your tracks. The glamour is there if you look for it, but so is a relaxed, everyday rhythm that makes the city surprisingly livable. On this page, I’ve gathered my Los Angeles favorites. The restaurants I return to. The neighborhoods I linger in. The places that capture the particular mix of ambition, creativity, and laid back energy that defines the city.

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